Atsuko Maeda(前田 敦子,Maeda Atsuko?, born July 10, 1991 in Ichikawa, Chiba) is a Japanese singer and actress known for her work in the Japanese idol group AKB48. Maeda was one of the most prominent members in the group, and placed first among all AKB48 and sister group candidates in the group's general 2009 and 2011 elections, and second in the 2010 election. She also appeared on many of its album covers. On March 25, 2012, she announced her graduation from AKB48;[1] it was held on August 27.[2][3] She has since continued with a solo singing and acting career.

At age 14, Maeda became a member of AKB48's first group, Team A,[4] which composed of 24 girls and debuted on December 8, 2005.

In 2009, Maeda won the first edition of AKB48's annual general elections, which are described as a popularity contest. As a result, she was the headlined performer for the group's 13th single, "Iiwake Maybe".[5] The following year, she placed second overall, but still had a significant choreography position in the lineup for "Heavy Rotation".[6] Later that year, AKB48 employed a rock-paper-scissors tournament to determine the top spot of AKB48's 19th major single "Chance no Junban". Maeda placed 15th, which secured her a spot on title track.[7] Maeda would also win the group's third general election held in 2011.[8]

Maeda was one of the members who sang on every AKB48 title track since the group's inception. Her streak of A-side appearances ended in 2011, when she lost to Team K captain Sayaka Akimoto at a rock-paper-scissors tournament which determined the featured members for the group's 24th single "Ue kara Mariko".[9]

On March 25, 2012, during an AKB48 Concert at the Saitama Super Arena, Maeda announced that she would leave the group.[10][11] This caused a large buzz in the Japanese news, and spawned a rumor (later proved false) that a student from University of Tokyo had committed suicide over the announcement.[12] AKB48 later announced that Maeda would leave after the Tokyo Dome concerts;[13] For her final performance, there were 229,096 requests filed for seat tickets.[3] Her farewell performance and ceremony occurred on August 27 at the AKB48 theater,[2] and was streamed live on YouTube.[4][14]

On April 23, 2011, Maeda announced that she would make her solo debut with her debut single "Flower", released on June 22.[15] It was met with commercial success in Japan, debuting at number 1 on the Oricon Charts with first week sales of 176,967 copies.

The follow-up single "Kimi wa Boku da", released in June 2012, was Maeda's last solo single while still a member of AKB48. It debuted at number two on the Oricon charts and reached number one on the Billboard Japan Hot 100.

On June 15, 2013, at AKB48's handshake event held at Makuhari Messe, AKB48 announced that Maeda would appear as a special guest at the group's summer concert series at the Sapporo Dome on July 31.[16] There, she performed her third single, "Time Machine Nante Iranai" (タイムマシンなんていらない,Taimu Mashin Nante Iranai?), which was later released on September 18.[17] It was selected to be the theme song for the live-action adaptation of Yamada-kun to 7-nin no Majo (Yamada and the Seven Witches).[18] Maeda described the song as "cheerful and fun" and hoped it would liven up the show.[19][20] "Time Machine Nante Iranai" eventually peaked at number one on the Oricon Daily charts,[21] and number two on the Oricon Weekly chart.[22] On Billboard's Japan Hot 100, it debuted at number one and stayed there for just the week of September 30.[23]

In 2013, Maeda starred in a series of 30-second station ID videos for Music On! TV where she played Tamako, a Tokyo university graduate who does not find a job and lives at home where she just eats and sleeps, over the course of the four seasons. This became a TV drama special, and has been developed into a full-fledged film, Tamako in Moratorium, the last of which is planned for a theater release in November 2013.[29][30]

Maeda starred in the film Seventh Code where she plays a Japanese woman in Russia who is trying to track down a guy she previously met. The film was shown at the Rome Film Festival in November 2013, and will be released for a short theater run in January 2014. She is planning a release of a single of the same name on March 5.[31]